Novak Djokovic’s prize money comments questioned as ‘bigger picture’ may be the primary focus
Novak Djokovic has led the way in calling for more of the wealth in tennis to be circulated among players at all levels of the game, but there remains a suspicion in the tennis community that the primary goal among the game’s biggest names is to secure more of the cash pot for themselves.
The Professional Tennis Players Association [PTPA] launched legal action against tennis’ governing bodies last month, as they suggested their mission was to support and safeguard professional tennis players at all levels of the game.
Formally founded by Djokovic and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in 2021, the PTPA is taking a legal route against the ATP, WTA and the International Tennis Federation, as well as the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees the sport’s anti-doping and anti-corruption system.
Twelve current and former players, including Pospisil and Nick Kyrgios, are listed as plaintiffs along with the PTPA in the US suit in New York.
The PTPA’s high-profile lawsuit was backed up by a move from 20 players from the men’s and women’s tours sending a letter to the organisers of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open last week demanding a bigger share of the prize pot in tennis.
These developments have started a debate over what comes next for the game, with players ranked outside of the top 100 in the men’s and women’s tours continuing to struggle to earn a living wage from the sport.
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Reports suggest that players receive about 30 per cent of the total revenue generated by the sport, which is significantly less than what athletes in other major sports receive and that figure is even lower for Grand Slams, despite increases in prize money for lower-ranked players.
On average, Grand Slam tournaments reportedly distribute approximately 15% of their total revenues to participating players, but even those who go out in the opening rounds of Grand Slams earn big money from those events.
The bigger financial challenge is for players outside the top 100 and those attempting to break through the ranks, with respected ATP Tour coach and event organiser Barry Fulcher telling Tennis365 the sport needs to be united in their attempts to encourage positive change for players at all levels.
Fulcher founded the Progress Tour some years ago, with this very objective; to offer more players the opportunity to earn prize money to bolster their careers on home soil and provide a platform for top-level competition and progression.
The Progress Tour does not offer ranking points, but it does provide a bigger prize money pot, hotel accommodation and a professional set-up for players that gives them a chance to finance their careers.
Yet we have long since reached a point where players either play for points on the ITF World Tennis Tour or chase money in events like the Progress Tour.
The latest Progress Tour event, the Novellus Easter Bowl, is taking place in Cardiff this week, with Fulcher admitting the challenge for players at the lower levels of the game to make enough money to fund their careers is a huge problem for the sport.
“It’s tough for a player at this level of the game to make any sort of money at all, and that is what we are trying to address with these events on the Progress Tour,” Fulcher told Tennis365.
“We want to create more opportunities for players to genuinely make a profit because when you look at the prize money on offer at these entry-level rankings events, it is difficult to understand the economics.
“A player out there travelling the world, trying to pick up ATP/WTA ranking points early in their careers is just not going to make any sort of money even just to cover their costs.
“One of our goals with the Progress Tour has been to provide players with more opportunities to compete and come away with a profit at the end of the week – this week’s Easter Bowl being a prime example of that. We want to show that this is possible, because week on week, players are not able to do that.”
Djokovic spoke about the issue of prize money once again ahead of the Monte-Carlo Masters, but his focus this time was on the distribution of funds in Grand Slam tournaments and Fulcher believes that is the priority for the game’s elite players.
“It’s absolutely right for Novak to highlight the fact that, relative to other sports, there are so few players in the world able to earn a living from the sport,” continued Fulcher, who is currently coaching ATP top 20 ranked doubles player Julian Cash.
“If you take what has been said at face value, Novak is absolutely on the money, but I’m not convinced that that is genuinely what the PTPA is fighting for.
“Ultimately, the players [represented by the PTPA] don’t feel that their slice of the pie is big enough relative to the revenues generated at the top of the game and I don’t disagree with this.
“It would be great to think that the PTPA are fighting the ‘good fight’ for the lower ranked players at 200, 300, 400 but I don’t think this is the motivation behind their moves.
“The talks around the breakaway tour are a testament to this – it’s not about ‘more players earning more money, but rather about the top [few] players earning a bigger share of the revenue. It feels like a bit of a contradiction in terms!
“From my perspective, this has always been the problem – we just don’t have enough players earning a living out of the sport, particularly when you consider the amount of wealth and resources we have within it.
“It seems that we are the only sport in the world actively trying to make the number of players earning a living out of it smaller rather than bigger. You only have to look at the recent debate around singles and doubles prize money distribution, with singles players feeling doubles players somehow are ‘undeserving’ of earning a living.
“So while I think a lot of what the PTPA is fighting for is good in principle, it would be great to understand if they are fighting for a wider spread of money around ALL players in the sport, or just a bigger cut for those at the top of the game.
“When you consider all of the industries and professions that exist because of tennis and thrive off the back of the broader success of pie sport, it becomes clear just how much wealth and resources there are involved in the game. There is no doubt, that amidst all of this, players seem to be one of the most under-represented voices within the game.
“So I would certainly say that players deserve a louder voice when it comes to distributing that revenue and have an established seat at the table. Tennis and its governance need to find a better way of supporting players through the formative part of their careers, providing more players with the opportunities to earn a genuine living from the game and break through the ranks.
“For a number of years now, the revenue generated at this level of the game has risen and been leveraged by the governing bodies [through advertising and selling data to betting companies], whilst player conditions at this level have largely remained unchanged for more than 20 to 25 years.
“Finding an enduring solution to this problem and ensuring athletes are not lost to tennis should be a priority for all of the game’s stakeholders. I’d love to see the PTPA genuinely put a stake in the ground for the broader tennis fraternity and commit to supporting the lower ranked players (and events] off the back of this recent action.”
The debate over prize money and what comes next in tennis on a wider scale is now in full flow, with players trying to wrestle some control back from tennis chiefs as they look for a bigger share of the revenues the sport generates.
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